High Adventure Weekend Part 3: The Love

Above: It looks like we are doing Tai Chi, but we were really learning how to do the "spotter stance"--a safety measure--for the ropes course while playing Simon Says.

Below: GFCF Mommy's Tinkerbell ride on the "Giant Swing."

The motto of the Adaptive Sports Center in Crested Butte, CO is "...where the possibilities are endless" and after our High Adventure Weekend, I think all of us came away with wonderful feelings of empowerment, hope, and joy in our children and their accomplishments.

Some of my favorite moments were watching what seemed to me amazing and touching achievements of the children, and their parents, and the kindness that everyone shared. Here are some memories that stay with me:

One teenage boy smiled. His mother said he never smiles, and that he actually did, was special.

We all held our breath when his little brother, who has especially pronounced sensory challenges had the great courage to try the Giant Swing, only to have trouble pulling the release cord that lets you "fly." (It is a little like pulling the rip cord on a parachute.) With lots of calm coaching from his incredible mom and the staff, the little guy persevered, pulled that cord and took flight! To us, it was as big an achievement as landing on the moon.

A serious young man who befriended me proudly showed off the tiny minnow he had caught in a bucket, but to him, it may as well have been a prize-winning trout!

The Prince, who has trouble with social skills, actually made a friend! A girl friend. He is still declaring his undying love for her.

A young teen girl made necklaces out of flowers with her guide and put them in her hair. And she was beautiful, inside and out.

One of the guides brought along her friendly and frisky black lab who was as good as any therapy dog at herding the kids and providing hours of countless entertainment.

Many of the moms, so focused on our children's needs, had not had the opportunity to try something adventurous or to even participate in sports as often as we might like. It helped our confidence level to get outside our "comfort zone" and try something fun and new. It also reminded us that our kids are outside their comfort zones every day.

As we sat around the campfire, one of the moms got up and led a song. The youngest camper there, with no prompting, stood right next to her, sang along and did all the movements. And as we sat in the warm glow of the fire singing, many of our kids, unable to sit still for too long, were on the perimeter, participating in their own unique way through their own movements, or vocalizations, and you could tell that they were at peace and we were all in harmony.

In our final group gathering in the morning, Larissa, the program leader, asked each of our families to take a moment to consider the weekend, what our goals had been, if they were met and what we remembered most. For many of us, the goals were simple, to have fun, as a family and individually, in a non-judgemental environment. Our goals were more than met. Many times over.

For one of the few times in my life as a mother, I had the experience of letting my child "play" while I "socialized" without fear of stigmatization, social pressure, or merely the fact that he might hurt himself. At our campsite, the kids roamed freely but the difference from our usual playground experience at home was that the guides and the parents were trained in autism parenting techniques--either professionally, or in the case of most parents by the school of life experience (and ASD parent support groups, and dealing with school administrators, teachers, and IEP's etc.). We all knew that yelling solves nothing and only escalates behavior problems. We all knew that the best person to have at ground zero during a meltdown, is the child's parent. We all knew that some kids are runners and some are attracted to beautiful but dangerous things and we looked out for each other with friendship and understanding. It was true blessing and a privilege to participate.

Larissa, our camp leader, also said something very beautiful that had most of us parents in tears. She said that as the "adaptive sports family" they were all moved by the love that we show our kids in the face of their challenges.

I will remember the experience forever and treasure the lesson we learned that in life, "the possibilities are endless.

(Photo credit: Pat & Alex Bittle, courtesy Adaptive Sports Center)